BACKGROUND: Tuberculous pleurisy treatment improve symptoms such as fever, chest pain, cough, and prevents the progression to active pulmonary tuberculosis and the development of residual pleural thickening that decrease diaphragm and rib cage movement. This study investigated how the degree of residual pleural thidkening affects the pulmonary function. METHODS: Fifty seven patients who were initially diagnosed as having tuberculous pleurisy, were treated with anti-tuberculous medication for 6 months and had residual pleural thickening between May 1998 and January 2000 at the Eulji university hospital were reviewed. A chest X-ray and pulmonary function test(PFT, Sensormedics 2200) were perfored. The predicted value (%) of the forced vital capacity(FVC), forced inspiratory vital capacity(FIVC) and total lung capacity(TLC) were measured. The residual pleural thickening was defined the average of the summation in the lateral chest at the level of the imaginary line intersecting from the cardiophrenic angle to the diaphragmatic dome and the lowest part of the costophrenic angle between them. The results were sorted into three grades according to pleural thickness; <2mm(grade I), 2~10mm(grade II), 10mm(grade III). RESULTS: 1. FVC(% pred) and FIVC(% pred) were statistically different between grade I and III, and II and III. However, there was no difference between the TLC(% pred) between each of the groups. 2. The pleural thickness that cause restrictive dysfunction(FVC<80%) and a statisticall difference, is 3 mm. CONCLUSION: The larger the extent of the residual pleural thickness after antituberculous medication, the greater the reduction in the FVC, FIVC, TLC. A pleural thickness of 3 mm is recommended as a guideline for diagnosing a restrictive pulmonary dysfunction.
Chest Pain ; Cough ; Diaphragm ; Fever ; Humans ; Lung ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Ribs ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis, Pleural* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Opioid-induced chest wall rigidity is an uncommon complication of opioids. Because of this, it is often difficult to make a differential diagnosis in a mechanically ventilated patient who experiences increased airway pressure and difficulty with ventilation. A 76-year-old female patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery for periprosthetic fracture of the femur neck. On completion of the surgery, airway pressure was increased, and oxygen saturation fell below 95% after a bolus dose of fentanyl. After ICU admission, the same event recurred. Manual ventilation was immediately started, and a muscle relaxant relieved the symptoms. There was no sign or symptom suggesting airway obstruction or asthma on physical examination. Early recognition and treatment should be made in a mechanically ventilated patient experiencing increased airway pressure in order to prevent further deterioration.
Aged ; Airway Obstruction ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Asthma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Fentanyl* ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Muscle Rigidity ; Oxygen ; Periprosthetic Fractures ; Physical Examination ; Thoracic Wall* ; Thorax* ; Ventilation

Autoimmune thyroid disease associated with Moyamoya syndrome has mostly been reported as Graves' disease, and not as Hashimoto's thyroiditis. We report a case of a 70-year-old man with right posterior cerebral artery territorial infarction and bilateral distal internal carotid artery occlusion, which suggests Moyamoya syndrome, but who was diagnosed as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Aged ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Infarction ; Moyamoya Disease ; Posterior Cerebral Artery ; Thyroid Diseases ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroiditis

Opioid-induced chest wall rigidity is an uncommon complication of opioids. Because of this, it is often difficult to make a differential diagnosis in a mechanically ventilated patient who experiences increased airway pressure and difficulty with ventilation. A 76-year-old female patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery for periprosthetic fracture of the femur neck. On completion of the surgery, airway pressure was increased, and oxygen saturation fell below 95% after a bolus dose of fentanyl. After ICU admission, the same event recurred. Manual ventilation was immediately started, and a muscle relaxant relieved the symptoms. There was no sign or symptom suggesting airway obstruction or asthma on physical examination. Early recognition and treatment should be made in a mechanically ventilated patient experiencing increased airway pressure in order to prevent further deterioration.
Aged ; Airway Obstruction ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Asthma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive ; Muscle Rigidity ; Oxygen ; Periprosthetic Fractures ; Physical Examination ; Thoracic Wall ; Thorax ; Ventilation

Background: Epidermoid cysts are benign tumors derived from the infundibular portion of hair follicles and thus have a flattened surface epithelium and keratohyaline granules. They can occur at any age but are most frequently reported in adults, and more often occur in men than women. Most epidermoid cyst operations are performed for cosmetic purposes, or to relieve inflammation. The definitive treatment is complete excision or destruction of the cyst. The aim of this study was to improve understanding of epidermoid cysts. Methods: We analyzed 432 cases of epidermoid cyst in 398 patients that underwent complete excision and biopsy between April 2001 and March 2020, according to patient age, patient gender, and lesion location. Results: From all epidermoid cyst excisions performed, 17.6% were for patients in their 40s and 50s, 16.8% for those in their 20s, 16.1% for those in their 30s, 14.6% for those aged 60 or older, 5.0% for teenagers, and 0.5% for those under 10 years. Cases of epidermoid cysts occurred at a men-to-women ratio of about 3:2, with 59.5% of cases in men and 40.5% in women. By lesion location, 65.0% of cases were on the face, 10.9% on the trunk, 7.9% on the scalp, 7.9% on the neck, 4.3% on lower extremities, 3.9% on upper extremities, and 0.2% on genitalia. On the face, 20.8% of cases were on the cheek, 12.7% on the periauricular area, 10.9% on the periorbital area, 6.0% on the frontal area, 5.6% on the mental area, 3.7% on the perioral area, 2.8% on the nasal area, and 2.5% on the temporal area. Conclusion The proportion of women with epidermoid cysts was higher in our study than in previous studies. Moreover, the results showed that surgery has been on the rise in recent years, with facial surgery being the most common.

Pylephlebitis is defined as an inflammation of the portal system, which is a rare but dreaded complication of intra-abdominal inflammatory processes. In the past it was observed as a sequela of neglected or complicated appendicitis. With earlier diagnosis, modern surgical technique and antibiotics, the incidence has declined even further. In addition, thrombosis in portal system (pylethrombosis) can complicate the pylephlebitis, followed by obstruction of the portal system, leading to portal hypertension in the late stage. Proper recognition of early thrombosis and an accompanying intra-abdominal inflammatory process should arouse the suspicion of septic thrombophlebitis and lead to the early institution of adequate therapy to prevent the almost universally fatal outcome. We report the case of woman who had pylephlebitis and presented with fever of unknown origin, probably associated with acute appendicitis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendicitis ; Diagnosis ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Portal System ; Portal Vein* ; Thrombophlebitis* ; Thrombosis

Uterine leiomyoma is common benign tumor in reproductive age woman. And secondary degeneration of uterine leiomyoma can be occurred usually during midpregnancy and the puerperium. But, spontaneous perforation of uterine leiomyoma with cystic degeneration is very rare. We have experienced a case of spontaneous perforation of a huge cystic degenerative uterine leiomyoma associated with massive hemoperitoneum in a menopausal woman, and report it with a brief review of literature.
Female ; Hemoperitoneum ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; Postpartum Period

BACKGROUND: We studied about the The different features of high-resolution CT (HRCT) findings of active pulmonary tuberculosis(TB) were studied between acid fast bacilli(AFB) smear or culture positive and negative group. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 36 patients who had been confirmed for active pulmonary tuberculosis by the smear or culture of AFB in sputum(n=25), and changes on serial chest radiographs(n=11). The patient were divided into 3 groups by the results on sputum AFB stain and culture. Group 1(n=11) is negative in both AFB stain and culture ; group 2(n=13) is negative in AFB stain but positive in culture ; and group 3(n=12)is positive in both AFB stain and culture. We evaluated the findings of HRCT in each group randomly. RESULT: On the HRCT scans, acinar nodule(100%), macronodule(75%), and cavity(75%) in group 3 were more frequently found than group 1(63%, 18%, 9%) and group 2(46%, 15%, 23%)(p<0.05). The centrilobular nodule and branching structure in group 3(92%) was more frequently observed were more frequently observed in group 3 (92%) than in group 1(54%)(p<0.05), but not different than were similarly observed in group 2(77%)(p>0.05). AFB positive group was statistically different than the negative group in the HRCT findings such as with respect to acinar nodule(100% vs 54%), macronodule(75% vs 17%), and cavity(75% vs 17%)(p<0.05). TB culture positive group was statistically different than the negative group in the HRCT findings such as with respect to acinar nodule(72% vs 45%) and cavity(48% vs 9%)(p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HRCT scans are helpful in determining disease acitivity in sputum AFB stain- negative pulmonary tuberculosis. When HRCT shows centrilobular nodule and branching structure, acinar nodule, macronodule, cavity, we are able to decide more study such further studies as sputum induction and bronchoscopy for determination of can be performed to determine the presence of bacilli in patients of AFB stain-negative tuberculosis.
Bronchoscopy ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; Sputum ; Thorax ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary*

This regulatory post-marketing surveillance study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of drospirenone (DRSP) 2 mg/estradiol (E₂) 1 mg tablet in Korean postmenopausal women. A total of 4,149 patients were enrolled and the study was conducted at 207 clinical research centers. The patients' source data was collected between November 2006 and November 2012. More than 85% of patients experienced improvement of menopausal symptoms. The most frequently reported adverse events were vaginal bleeding and breast pain; most of the women suffering from these symptoms fully recovered. The incidence of adverse event was higher in patients of younger age (20 to 39 years), in patients with concomitant diseases, previous hormone replacement therapy in medical history, those treated with DRSP 2 mg/E₂ 1 mg for shorter duration (3 years or less) and in patients using concomitant medication. In conclusion, the results from this large post-marketing surveillance study confirm the efficacy and safety of DRSP 2 mg/E₂ 1 mg tablet in Korean postmenopausal women.
Female ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mastodynia ; Menopause ; Uterine Hemorrhage

Swiprosin-1 exhibits the highest expression in CD8+ T cells and immature B cells and has been proposed to play a role in lymphocyte biology through actin remodeling. However, regulation of swiprosin-1 gene expression is poorly understood. Here we report that swiprosin-1 is up-regulated in T cells by PKC pathway. Targeted inhibition of the specific protein kinase C (PKC) isotypes by siRNA revealed that PKC-theta is involved in the expression of swiprosin-1 in the human T cells. In contrast, down-regulation of swiprosin-1 by A23187 or ionomycin suggests that calcium-signaling plays a negative role. Interestingly, swiprosin-1 expression is only reduced by treatment with NF-kappaB inhibitors but not by NF-AT inhibitor, suggesting that the NF-kappaB pathway is critical for regulation of swiprosin-1 expression. Collectively, these results suggest that swiprosin-1 is a PKC-theta-inducible gene and that it may modulate the late phase of T cell activation after antigen challenge.
Actins ; Biology ; Calcimycin ; Down-Regulation ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Ionomycin ; Lymphocytes ; NF-kappa B ; Precursor Cells, B-Lymphoid ; Protein Kinase C ; Protein Kinases ; RNA, Small Interfering ; T-Lymphocytes